Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) (England) Regulations 2020

Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom Excerpts

Friday 10th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the sensitive way in which my noble friend introduced these regulations, particularly in relation to the exemptions—here I echo the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, and my noble friend Lord Holmes. A member of my close family has severe Parkinson’s disease and cannot drink without a straw. However, in answer to the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, in my view the straws do have to be disposable. I actually own a brush for washing non-disposable straws, but I am not sure that I believe in it. It may be that these regulations will spur research into new materials. However, if we do encourage the use of new materials, we need to ensure that, in creating them, we do not do further environmental harm in the way that, say, palm oil has done. We must beware of the law of unintended consequences.